Lightsabers invented!

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Andy 50

Andy 50

Scientists at Harvard and MIT say they have accidentally discovered the science behind the technology that would allow a device similar to the famous Star Wars lightsaber.Although they have yet to develop the technology, the scientists say they have found a way to bind photons together to form new molecules similar to those that would make up the blade of a Jedi's lightsaber.

Mikhail Lukin, physics professor at Harvard university says that "most of the properties of light we know about originate from the fact that photons are massless and do not interact. What we have done is create a special type of medium in which photons interact with each other so strongly that they act as though they have mass, and bind together to form molecules.

"It's not an in-apt analogy to compare this to lightsabers. When these photons interact with each other, they're pushing against and deflect each other. The physics of what's happening in these molecules is similar to what we see in the movies."

However, given the deadly nature of lightsabers, it's unlikely that we will see them in toy stores any time soon!